Another fan shroud/cooling question.

[Sid51x]

Hey Gents,

With the bumper solved, and my to-do list growing. I'm taking a stab at the cooling system.

Given the context of having a large push bumper on the front, the highway mileage on this rig is probably very low, as an extension of this, I found after about 30 minutes of driving (Both stop and go, and up at highway speeds) on a warm ~85 degree day, when I parked I had boiling water, steam and all in the overflow.

I expect that some of this was due to the push bumper obscuring some of the front, old coolant, and an old radiator cap (the one on the rig now is a 16#) and/or thermostat. I'll be addressing these concerns in good time.

As I am getting this stuff together I discovered that I am missing the radiator shroud, and based on the parts numbers, and references I'm finding, it seems that someone swapped a radiator into this rig at some point that is potentially undersized. (21", single core (E2TH-8005-AZA). Additionally, it appears that my cooling fan is on a clutch, which my reading seems to point to rigs with A/C which this rig does not have.

I say this as I cannot seem to find any shrouds available for this radiator, only for the 27". Starting to feel like I should be tracking down an "early" 1980-84 style (To avoid the need to modify the support) 27" radiator to work with the shrouds that appear to be commercially available.

With the context above. I have the following questions.

1) Does anyone know of a supply for the shroud on the 21" rad that even if it is not an exact match, could be modified to fit?

2) would it be worth it from a parts compatibility/availability standpoint to pick up the larger 27" model for when I'm doing this cooling system refresh?

[ArdWrknTrk]

That fan clutch is nothing but good.
Believe me, you don't want a solid mounted or flex fan.

To the best of my knowledge there never were fan shrouds on 300's.
Only a little top mounted 'finger guard' on some models

I have a V-8 super cooling radiator and shroud from 'The Giving Truck' but (as I'm sure you know) the inlet and outlet are reversed from the I-6.

[mat in tn]

the best suggestion I can make is to take this opportunity to do the best upgrade possible. get the best 27" rad that you can and get the shroud for it.
I recently replaced the rad in my 86 sb f150 with the 4.9. I installed a spectra cu1454 from rockauto. roughly 150 dollars to the door. yet you need the shroud also so add that.
 the big point to be sure of is the fitment at the core support. early models with the narrow radiator have rubber cushion mounts at the bottom and brackets that hold it at the top. 85/86 have cup brackets made on the uprights of the core support and the top is held to the core support by two 10mm bolts. sadly, I do not have an 84 here to check which core support you might have.

[ArdWrknTrk]

85 model year is the switchover as far as I can tell.
( Of course Gary has a tutorial on adding the two clip nuts and 'stirrups' to the earlier radiator support..)

A shroud and deeper radiator should make a huge difference!  

[mat in tn]

on the 1983 that I have been building (stalled for a year now) I made the stirrups out of similar gauge sheet metal and then drilled the top core support for j nuts and installed the same heavy duty cooling radiator. in this case I also had to open the free air space as the narrower radiator has the smaller opening to keep the air from passing around instead of through the radiator. all can be done well enough if needed.

[Bronco638]

I'm pretty sure that LMC Truck has a shroud for the 4.9 and I believe I have one, too. Mine has seen better days but if you want it, I'll send it to you for the cost of shipping.

[Sid51x]

I appreciate that, I did check out, and reached out to LMC before posting. They were unable to provide me fitment details, and the site at the moment is stating that it's for the later years 87-96 IIRC.

[Littlebeefy]

I don't see why the year should matter. The shroud essentially just bolts to the radiator. What is relevant is where the hole is centered and the width for the blades.

[Sid51x]

Might have to end up doing this, myself. Would rather try my hand at building the cradles/stirrups before jumping both feet in with a radiator I might not be able to use before any warranty is up. The wife is already not pleased with the project list.

Would you happen to have any notes from when you built your set?  Depth and such?

[Sid51x]

My assumption, though probably wrong, based upon the images I've seen, and the part numbers I've been referencing and such that a lot of the newer rads are the 27" core size, as opposed to the 21" core I have now. As LMC was unable to give me any of the measurements, I didn't want to pick up another shroud that is going to need to be cut down significantly. This might all be stemming from ArdWrknTrk's comment above, that the 300 only had a finger guard, and I've been wasting my time in this search.

[Bronco638]

Sid51x wrote

I appreciate that, I did check out, and reached out to LMC before posting.
They were unable to provide me fitment details, and the site at the moment
is stating that it's for the later years 87-96 IIRC.

Over on FTE, inmate FuzzFace2 posted on how he minimally modified the LMC shroud to work on his '81 Flare Side with the 4.9. FuzzFace2 is an inmate here as well. It didn't sound like it was much effort to make the shroud, which he sourced from LMC, fit/work. I thought you might like to try making an old shroud work instead of feeling guilty about modding a new one. Your call, especially if you have someone minding the check book.

[mat in tn]

if you do decide to try to make your core support to receive the newer style radiator, I will be glad to get you measurements and advice as much as I can. I can get pictures, yet I struggle with posting them here with the current system. I'm impressed with how so many do so easily. however, I can text or email pics if need be.